How to Make French Macarons
Perfect for any special occasion such as Mother's Day or Valentine's Day, these are definitely a special little treat, Your mum will be delighted to receive a beautifully wrapped gift box of French macarons.
Alternatively, they look great wrapped up as wedding favours, or added to the tables for the lucky guests on your big day!
You will need
How to make
You Will Need:
For the macaron mixture:
175 g (6 oz) icing sugar
110 g (4 oz) ground almonds
75 g (3 oz) caster sugar
Three egg whites
Pinch of salt
For the lemon buttercream filling:
50 g (2 oz) butter
110 g (4 oz) icing sugar, sifted
One tbsp lemon juice
For the rose buttercream filling:
50 g (2 oz) butter
110 g (4 oz) icing sugar, sifted
One tbsp milk
Rosewater
For the white chocolate and pistachio ganache filling:
60 ml (2 fl.oz) double cream
40 g (1 ½ oz) white chocolate, chopped
10 g (½ oz) pistachio kernels
One tbsp caster sugar
Equipment:
Sieve
Whisk (manual or electric)
Preheat the oven to 150°C / fan 130°C / 300°F / gas mark 2. Sift the icing sugar and ground almonds into a bowl to remove any lumps.
Cream the butter and icing sugar until combined, incorporating the lemon juice. Add a little yellow food colouring using the tip of a cocktail stick. Mix until soft and creamy.
Cream the butter and icing sugar until combined, incorporating the milk. Add ¼ tsp rosewater and mix in a few drops of pink food colouring using the tip of a cocktail stick. Mix until soft and creamy.
Heat the cream in a saucepan until it is steaming. Put the white chocolate into a bowl and pour the cream over it. Grind the pistachios and caster sugar in a food processor until fine. Add the ground pistachio and sugar mixture to the white chocolate ganache and mix until combined.
Refrigerate for half an hour until cold.
When cold remove from the fridge and whisk with an electric whisk to form stiff peaks (take care not to over whisk)
Fill a piping bag fitted with a round 1cm (½ inch) nozzle and pipe the filling onto half of the green macaron shells. Sandwich the rest of the green macaron shells on top.